Englishmen race to find the tomb of Ghengis Khan. They have to get there fast, as the evil genius Dr. Fu Manchu (Boris Karloff) is also searching, and if he gets the mysteriously powerful relics, he and his diabolical daughter (Myrna Loy) will enslave the world!
Interestingly, this film parallels "The Mummy" (another Karloff film from rival Universal that came out the same year) with its reference to the curse of King Tut's tomb. An intentional jab?
Most reviews focus on the inherent racism of talking about "Eastern races", and using a villain who needed so much makeup to look Asian that he no longer even looked human. These are fair criticisms.
But although it is easy today to see the racism in the film, what is more interesting is how it was pointed out at the time. The Chinese embassy was specifically upset, and did not appreciate Fu Manchu's orders to "Kill the white man and take his women!"
If we ignore the racial factor (and it may be hard), the film is actually quite good, with a dastardly villain who schemes and tortures. Replace Fu manchi with, say, a Nazi, and this could be looked back on as a brilliant horror mystery.
Interestingly, this film parallels "The Mummy" (another Karloff film from rival Universal that came out the same year) with its reference to the curse of King Tut's tomb. An intentional jab?
Most reviews focus on the inherent racism of talking about "Eastern races", and using a villain who needed so much makeup to look Asian that he no longer even looked human. These are fair criticisms.
But although it is easy today to see the racism in the film, what is more interesting is how it was pointed out at the time. The Chinese embassy was specifically upset, and did not appreciate Fu Manchu's orders to "Kill the white man and take his women!"
If we ignore the racial factor (and it may be hard), the film is actually quite good, with a dastardly villain who schemes and tortures. Replace Fu manchi with, say, a Nazi, and this could be looked back on as a brilliant horror mystery.